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Thursday, April 25, 2013

Chevrolet Volt

The Chevrolet Volt is an extended-range electric vehicle, one that uses electric batteries and motors to power its front wheels, combined with a gas engine that provides power when the electricity is depleted. Now in its third year on the market, the Volt is essentially unchanged from prior model years, after being launched in the aftermath of GM's bankruptcy.

The Volt is one of just two so-called series hybrids--that use a gasoline engine not to drive the wheels, but to power a generator--on the market today. The other is the Fisker Karma, a sexy but very expensive four-door luxury sport sedan from the troubled startup carmaker Fisker Automotive.

The 2007 Detroit Auto Show saw the unveiling of the first Volt concept car (which looked quite different to today's production Volt). The wide public acclaim for the concept led GM to put the car into production, and the first 2011 models were sold in December 2010.

With the Volt, Chevy is delivering a whole crop of new owners to GM, many of them who may have bought a Toyota Prius Plug-In Hybrid in its place. The Volt's smooth, quiet, powerful driving experience is attracting buyers who trade in expensive German imports, because this is the first Chevy in decades to be at the cutting edge of future technology. It's also the Chevy with the highest owner satisfaction ratings in the history of the brand.

For buyers who want to drive electric but suffer from "range anxiety": the fear that they will deplete their battery and be left stranded by the side of the road, the Volt is the obvious choice. It provides 30 to 40 miles of battery power--the EPA rates the 2013 Volt at 38 miles--plus unlimited range from a range-extending gasoline engine.

Unlike plug-in hybrids--from Toyota, Ford, and others--the Volt is solely powered by electricity, even if the engine is on. It's designed as an electric car with a backup generator that happens to run on gasoline. When the “range extender” gasoline engine switches on, it doesn’t turn the wheels mechanically (with one specialized exception). Plug-in versions of the Toyota Prius, Ford C-Max and Fusion, and Honda Accord, on the other hand, have lower electric ranges (6 to 21 miles) but run mostly on gasoline. And, their engines will switch on even if the pack is still charged--something that happens in the Volt only during the coldest weather.

As a result, the Volt alleviates the range anxiety of battery electric cars like the Nissan Leaf, with its EPA-rated range of 73 miles, or the Ford Focus Electric. And the Volt is considerably less expensive than the new Tesla Model S electric luxury sports sedan, which starts at prices $17,500 higher and can reach $100,000 for top-end models.

That means that the Volt's unique drivetrain makes it drive just like a “normal car"--absent all the rising and falling noises of a transmission shifting--and like most electric cars, it provides continuous brisk acceleration from stops.

The Volt's 38 miles of electric range is delivered by a lithium-ion battery pack located in the tunnel between the front seats and below the two rear seats. After the pack is depleted, the car seamlessly switches on its 1.4-liter gasoline engine, which generates electricity to power the electric motor that actually drives the front wheels.

For 2013, Chevy slightly increased the energy capacity of the lithium-ion battery pack, from the original 16 kilowatt-hours to 16.5 kWh, and the usable portion of that energy from 10.3 to 10.8 kWh. That boosted the Volt's EPA-rated electric range from 35 to 38 miles, and it raises the 2013 Volt's efficiency rating from 94 to 98 MPGe, or "miles per gallon equivalent'--the distance the car can travel electrically on the amount of energy contained in a single gallon of gasoline.

But in a Chevy Volt, "your mileage may vary"--in spades--only it's really the electric range that will vary. The EPA also pegs the Volt's efficiency when running on gasoline at 37 mpg. Any individual owner's blended gas mileage (running on both grid electricity and gasoline) depends entirely on how often that Volt is plugged in to recharge. Owners who plug in regularly and travel less than 40 miles for weeks on end record mileage figures of 250 mpg (the highest the car's display allows).

The message: Take all “gas mileage” figures for the Volt with a large grain of salt, but know that they'll always be roughly 35 mpg or better--and some owners will be able to get blended "fuel economy" of up to almost infinity.

The EPA assigns the Volt a rating of 98 MPGe, or miles-per-gallon-equivalent, over a standard test cycle that blends both pure electric and range-extending gasoline modes. ("Miles Per Gallon Equivalent" is the measure of energy efficiency that represents how far the car will travel electrically on the same amount of stored battery energy as is contained in a single gallon of gasoline.)

GM has taken criticism for the Volt's unadventurous exterior styling, but the interior is more up to date, with an Apple-like feel to its glossy plastic control panel. Packaging is another area of concern for some: The Volt's lithium-ion battery pack sits in the tunnel between the seats and under the rear seat. The car holds four people and some luggage comfortably, but has less interior space than Chevy's similarly-sized Cruze compact four-door sedan.

The options list of the Volt has gradually expanded over the years, although 2011 models came with a richer selection of standard equipment than did the 2012s. No sunroof is offered, and there are limited color and wheel options. A low-energy Bose audio system is available, along with a navigation system, leather upholstery, and a selection of interior graphic treatments and finishes.

All Volts include a charging cord to plug them into standard 120-Volt wall outlets; it takes 7 to 10 hours to recharge an entirely depleted battery pack. Owners can also have a 240-Volt Level 2 charging station installed in their garage, generally for less than $2,000, which cuts recharging time to about 4 hours.

Chevy Volt prices start at $39,995, including delivery, and can reach more than $45,000 with a full set of options. Most buyers will be eligible for a $7,500 Federal tax credit for the purchase of a plug-in car, and there are various state, regional, and corporate incentives--both financial and perks like solo access to California's High-Occupancy Vehicle lane.